Site Navigation

Site Mobile Navigation

Winning Back Europe's Heart; All for One

Milan - What do Europeans want from the United States? As President Bush prepares for his first trip to Europe since his reelection -- a five-day swing through Belgium, Germany and Slovakia -- the Op-Ed page asked a variety of Europeans to name the single most important thing Mr. Bush could do to reinvigorate trans-Atlantic relations.

HERE is what President Bush should say upon arriving in Brussels:

"Dear European friends: from today on my administration will no longer address your noble and ancient countries one by one. From now on, we will address the European Union only as a whole. We will not talk sweetly to London and Rome, sourly to Paris and Madrid, and sweetly and sourly to Berlin and Warsaw, depending on your differing stances on terrorism and Iraq. On Iraq, Iran, China, North Korea, Kyoto and United Nations reform, I will deal with the Union only as a single organism. Europe wants to be a superpower? Then here I am, ready to deal with a superpower. On any given issue -- from schools in Kabul to settlements in the West Bank -- you must first reach a consensus, after which the United States will discuss and negotiate with an open heart and mind. Once we have agreed, the world will understand clearly the full weight and will of the democratic Atlantic."

Gianni Riotta is the managing editor of Corriere della Sera.

We are continually improving the quality of our text archives. Please send feedback, error reports,
and suggestions to archive_feedback@nytimes.com.

A version of this op-ed appears in print on February 20, 2005, on Page 4004009 of the National edition with the headline: Winning Back Europe's Heart; All for One. Today's Paper|Subscribe